Shopping, Sewing, Upcycling, Repairing: Make the most of your clothes!

Tag Archives: shoes

It started like most Wednesday mornings. I caught up with some reading over early-morning coffee and breakfast, and I was just rolling out my yoga mat, when suddenly…

…the phone rang.

It was the manager of my hair salon. I had an appointment for 2:15 in the afternoon, but my stylist had had a last-minute cancellation, and wanted to know if I could run over a little early. As in right that minute: 10:05 a.m. (It so happens that I live literally across the street from my salon, otherwise I wouldn’t even have attempted to make it.) Here’s a direct quote from my stylist, heard in the background while I was talking to the manager: “Just brush your teeth and come over!” The question was, how fast could I get there? Continue reading →

As promised, here is the full (if slightly belated) report on my dance shoes’ tripping the light fantastic into the CYC Day Spa! (If you want the seriously truncated version, look here.)

You must be wondering, “Lindy, why would you want to change your dance shoes??” Here’s the reason: I’ve not been active in ballroom dancing for a couple of years, but (fortunately) I’ve held on to my ballroom shoes, all of which are the usual gold-tone satin color. However, I wanted them to look more like fashion shoes, rather than dancing shoes per se. Hence the makeover!

A word (or several) about dancing shoes: First, in ballroom dancing (particularly for competition), women typically wear shoes that are more or less skin-tone, to visually extend the line of the leg. Second, shoes made specifically for ballroom are constructed differently than street shoes (and they’re never worn on the street, only on dance floors). They have suede soles to slide on the dance floor and make smooth pivoting possible. And third, in the case of shoes for the Latin dances ( cha cha cha, rumba, samba, jive, and paso doble), like the ones I’ve used in this project, the soles are extremely flexible, which facilitates toe-pointing.

My Latin dancing shoes before their makeover:

Dance shoes, pre-makeover: The classic ballroom gold satin is pretty, but it’s time for a change!

I know, I know, it’s Makeover Monday already again! And I do have a fantastic makeover for you, but… today is my daughter’s birthday, and the whole weekend has been one long celebration*, so I’m afraid I only have a few minutes today. I’m just going to give you a quick overview, plus a little photo preview.

The project: I have a pair of dance shoes in classic ballroom-gold satin, still in good condition, but somehow just too… ballroomy. I’ve been wanting a pair of dance shoes that are in the brown-to-bronze range; this would be a versatile color, considering my dance wardrobe. (I’m really trying to get away from all black, all the time, which in my wardrobe, only happens with dance clothes.) But considering the original cost of these shoes (and more to replace them), I thought maybe there was another way to get what I wanted. So I thought about dyeing them (yes, I’ve had dyeing on the brain for the last several Mondays!); I looked into that, and it seems that fabric paints would be more appropriate, as well as easier to DIY (DIM? Do It Myself?).

The preview: Here are my shoes, before and after a fresh coat of fabric paint!

Dance shoes, before and after. A lot more photos and project details are coming tomorrow!

That’s all for now— I’m sorry for the delay, but I promise, first thing tomorrow, I’ll fill in all the details of this project!

*It was on this day, my daughter’s birthday one year ago, that she was rushed to the hospital, extremely close to death from a sudden and complete liver failure. Today, she is not only alive, but doing amazingly well. Hence the non-stop celebrating— including lots of dancing!

I like to start by “shopping my closet”. I know, I know, it’s much more fun to go out and get new stuff, but hey, it can also be rewarding to unearth something you haven’t worn in (she said with a blush) over 2 years, and find that it works perfectly with your travel wardrobe color palette! So into the closet I go, and find all these pieces that fit not only the color palette but my actual clothing needs for my trip to Santa Fe: